WWE's inability to fully commit to someone is one of the biggest reasons why they haven't created a megastar since the days of the Attitude Era. When Randy Orton became the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history at SummerSlam 2004 he looked on his way to becoming WWE's next big star, but his title reign was cut short by Triple H the following month. There was a weird dynamic in WWE during the majority of the brand-split years. The SmackDown roster had a lot more depth, whereas the Raw roster was Triple H and then everybody else. You might expect WWE would be dying to create a new star on their flagship show, but every time they attempted to do so Triple H squashed it. Randy Orton didn't end up being the exception to that rule, even though WWE had earmarked him as the next face of the company. Everyone knew that Triple H and Orton were on a collision-course after Orton won the World Heavyweight Title at SummerSlam '04, but because WWE was really making an effort to create new stars on SmackDown, most assumed they'd do the same on Raw. It made sense for WWE to put Orton over to garner credibility in his new unexpected role as champion, but Hunter had other ideas. Rather than letting Orton enjoy a lengthy title reign, WWE just went right back to Triple H continuing his reign of terror on the Raw show. Randy Orton is one of the biggest stars in WWE today, but he has never been truly accepted as a WWE great. Perhaps he would have been much bigger if Triple H had done the honours for him and allowed Orton to continue building momentum as the face of Raw for at least a few months.
Aaron Sass is a professional writer living in Corvallis, Oregon. He has previously done work with The Inquisitr, Examiner, and The Portland Tribune, covering the NBA, professional wrestling, and mixed-martial-arts.
